The Years Have Not Been So Kind
by RomaMarufixx
Summary: Arthur had always been curious about his manservant, even more so when he realises that he is in fact a woman, a woman who would do anything for him, but one day he has to send her away to protect her but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. Fem!Merlin, Arthur/Fem!Merlin, Non-Con, Canon AU. Based on a prompt on KMM.
1. Beginning and Ending

**Title: **The Years Have Not Been So Kind

**Author: **RomaMarufixx

**Rating: **T

**Pairing: **Fem!Merlin/Arthur

**Summary:** Arthur had always been curious about his manservant, even more so when he realises that he is in fact a woman, a woman who would do anything for him, but one day he has to send her away to protect her but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. Fem!Merlin, Arthur/Fem!Merlin, Non-Con, Canon AU.

**Word count: **1,062

**Disclaimer: **Merlin belongs to the BBC.

* * *

Arthur had been more than furious when the skinny boy had been made his manservant by his father, the King. The boy was useless and a pain, and they did not get along, at all. They fought, Merlin had even made him look like an idiot and a coward in front of his father and the court but later on the two had forgiven each other for the things that were said.

Merlin was an unusual man and made Arthur very curious, Arthur would often find himself staring at him too long, trying to figure him out or just watching the way he moved, he was very feline in the way he moved, his hips stuck out to far and he was very thin, for a man.

Of course he could could have never suggested that his manservant was in fact a maidservant. He had no idea, that was until she had fallen over when they were practising in the training fields, her tunic had gone up by accident and had exposed the bandages that she used to wrap around her chest, Arthur had blushed deeply and Merlin had quickly pulled her tunic back down and brushed herself off, but had not realised that she had been caught out by Arthur.

He ignored the fact she was a woman, and treated her the same as he always had, that was until the whole incident with Sophia. From the second she and Arthur had rescued Sophia and her father, Merlin had started acting strangely but couldn't do anything about it.

Arthur noticed Merlin's hair becoming longer, as if she were growing it out and her clothes hung tighter on her, showing her hips more and the curve of her chest. Hanging around a woman had given him more insight and made him realise even more about Merlin and making him even more interested in Merlin. Merlin had even saved him from ruining his life by running away with Sophia. And from that moment on he kept a close eye on Merlin.

Throughout the years she has been his servant she has always been loyal to him and to everyone that means something to her. And he noticed that she was very handy in a fight, she was lot better with a sword than he could ever had thought and with her magic she was even better. Yes, Arthur knew she was a sorceress, but didn't tell her, much like he hadn't told her that he found out she was woman instead of a man which he first thought.

After what happened with Sigan, Arthur knew Merlin had magic, even though he had suspected it beforehand, but after hearing their conversation, he knew that Merlin had magic for certain and that she was a good sorceress, she declined being all powerful for staying with Arthur, even though, and Sigan had pointed this out, was horrible to her and treated her like dirt...he didn't treat her that badly...did he?

It wasn't long after that, that his feelings for Merlin started to change, he had not even liked the girl when they had first met and now he was dreaming of them kissing and imagining her naked whilst she cleaned his chambers. He was falling in love with her. His changing feelings for her were shown in his actions, although they only showed signs of friendship not signs of romantic feelings. But then the day came...the day Arthur wished had never come.

* * *

"Arthur, your servant is a sorcerer." His father, who was under the troll's influence, said.

"What?" Arthur said, faking shock.

"He has deceived us all, you most of all." His father said, even after over a year of Merlin being here people still mistook her for a man.

"But, Father-"

"We must arrest him and put him to death."

"Yes, father."

Arthur had lead his knights to various locations around the citadel and then he ran to the place he knew Merlin would be, his chambers.

"Merlin, you have to leave." Arthur said as he entered the chambers.

"What, why?" Merlin's questioning was cut short as the Prince smashed his lips against hers, it took a few seconds for Merlin to respond by moving her lips against his. They pulled back from each other.

"Arthur...what?"

"I know you're a girl, I know you're a sorceress and now so does my father because of the troll that is my stepmother."

"Arthur, I'm sorry." Was the only thing Merlin said as her eyes brimmed with tears, Arthur cupped her chin and kissed her again quickly and she did the same to him.

"We have to get you out of Camelot and to somewhere safe, if you stay here then my father will kill you." Although she didn't want to leave Camelot, she didn't want to be killed either, so she let Arthur drag her out of the room and through the back ways through Camelot so the two could could get out of the city without being caught by knights or guards or any other person walking around Camelot.

"Arthur, I don't want to leave."

"Merlin, believe me, I don't want you to, but if you stay you will be killed and I do not want you dead." Merlin nodded. "There is a cabin, a few hours walk away, you can stay there until you find a place to live, when I am king, you can return." Arthur said and Merlin smiled.

"Then I can't wait for you to be king." Merlin said and the two shared a brief kiss before Merlin ran off out of Camelot and Arthur returned to the castle to tell his father there was no sign of Merlin, she had most likely escaped from Camelot.

The next few weeks were boring and Arthur missed his servant more and more as the days passed but he knew that it would be years before he would be able to see Merlin again, and that saddened him greatly.

* * *

Merlin had found the cabin Arthur was talking about and made that her home for the next few weeks, she decided to move to a different location in case Uther sent out people to look for her, so she moved frequently, never making herself known, just kept on moving, the thought of being back in Camelot when Arthur became king kept her going.


	2. 3 Years Later

**Title: **The Years Have Not Been So Kind

**Author: **RomaMarufixx

**Rating: **T

**Pairing: **Fem!Merlin/Arthur

**Summary:** Arthur had always been curious about his manservant, even more so when he realises that he is in fact a woman, a woman who would do anything for him, even risking her own life, but one day he has to send her away to protect her but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. What will happen when Merlin is brought back to Camelot years later, a shell of the woman she was before. Fem!Merlin, Arthur/Fem!Merlin, Non-Con, Canon AU.

**Word count: **1,821

**Disclaimer: **Merlin belongs to the BBC.

**Warnings: **Rape/Non-Con

* * *

_**3 Years Later...**_

* * *

For the last four months Merlin had been in the same village, the longest she had stayed in one place, and had settled in, even making friends with some of the villagers and got a job helping out one of the farmers, who had injured his back working on the land so she had offered to help him out, he gave her some money and when the fruit and vegetables came into season he gave some to her but not a lot because he had a family of his own, a wife and three young chilldren.

Although as if life wanted to kick her in the face even more, bandits raided the village she was staying in. She hadn't been in the village whilst the village had been raided, she'd been out collecting herbs for the elderly physician, whom Merlin was good friends with.

Whilst collecting herbs she'd seen smoke drifting from the village she was staying in, and in a panic she rushed back to the village to see the bandits had rounded up some of the villagers.

"Let them go." Merlin said in a stern voice and the bandits turned to her and grinned, a young girl was no threat to them, so they made their way towards her and she grinned, her eyes flashing gold and all of the men flew backwards.

She made her way towards the few villagers had been rounded up when a few men emerged from behind them.

"Step away girly." One of the bandits grinned and she raised a brow at him and he obviously knew what she was going to, having seen what she had just done to the other bandits. The other bandits moved closer to a few of the villagers, raising daggers and swords to their necks and Merlin's eyes widened and her iris' turning back blue instead of gold as she was going to use her magic.

"Behave girl or we will kill them." the lead bandit said and she was grabbed from behind, a rag placed over her nose and mouth and soon she was surrounded by darkness. When Merlin had blacked out and fell to the ground, the bandits put down their swords and daggers away from the villagers and joined the other bandits who were standing around the young sorceress.

"What should we do?" one of the five bandits asked another

"We should take her to Camelot, perhaps to the new King?" he suggested but their leader shook his head.

"No, Camelot does not like those with magic."

"I know, that's why I suggest with give her to the king, he'll kill her and it was be legal." the man said.

"Yes, but I was thinking of using her for something else." the leader grinned down at the girl.

"Like what?" a bandit asked confused and they all stared at him until he cottoned on. "Oh."

"Yes." the leader said, glaring at the bandit, before looking over at the three bandits Merlin had knocked backwards with her magic. "What about those three?" he asked and a bandit walked over checking each of their pulses.

"Dead, all of them." he announced and walked back to the others.

"Well, now I know what we are going to do for definite." the leader grinned as did the five others.

Merlin woke up cold and looked down at her body to see she was lying on an unfamiliar bed, naked.

"Ah, you're awake." a man said, walking into the room she was in and he covered herself as much as she could, a few seconds later she realised who the man was, one of the bandits who had raided the village and knocked her unconscious.

"Where am I, and why am I naked!?" she demanded.

"You're in my home." the man smirked, walking closer to her. "And you're naked because...we're going to have some fun." he smirked, as he began to remove his clothing and it was then that Merlin panicked and trying to run out of the room, not bothering to put some clothes on.

When she reached the door, two of the bandits she had seen in the village stood there and she shrunk in their presence, knowing she wasn't going to get away, magic couldn't save her and these men were going to...violate her.

She felt tears prick at the side of her eyes as she was led back to the bed by the two bandits. The leader of the bandits was now undressed and waited on the bed as the two others brought her to him. She was placed on her knees on the bed before the leader, who lifted a hand up to her face, holding it and stroking it, as she flinched and try to move away from her hand and doing so only landed her a slap across her face by the man, before he grabbed her chin and pulled her back to look at him.

"Behave, or I will slap you again." she glared at the man and he slapped her again, before pulling her face back to him. He moved his hand to the back of her head and gripped her black messy hair, pulling her forwards to his lips, and kissing her roughly, biting her lips and tongue and grinning when he heard her grunt in pain.

He pulled away from her and moved so he was stood by the bed, his hand still gripping onto her hair. He moved so he was behind her body and Merlin panicked when she felt him touch her sensitive area. She whined in protest and moved away only to be slapped harshly on her rear, leaving a print.

"What did I say!?" the man shouted at her and he buried her head into the bed, tears staining the sheets below her. It wasn't long after that the man used his fingers to penetrate her and she squeezed her eyes tight and gripped the sheets below her waiting for something other than fingers to be put inside of her.

"Mm, I think she's ready." the leader said and his tone of voice made the tears spill out of her eyes and she buried her face deeper into the covers as she felt the man pull away his fingers and move himself in the right position to penetrate her.

She braced herself but another man pulled her up by her chin and shoved his long shaft into her mouth making her gagged and squeeze her eyes close, more tears escaping her eyes and trying to stop herself throwing up as the man's sour flesh touched her tongue and whilst concentrating on not choking the leader thrust into her, breaking her virginity straight through and she screamed around the other man's flesh.

She felt blood trickle down her legs, but the leader continued to thrust inside her, adding to the pain. The third bandit, who Merlin had almost forgotten was in the room, pinched her side and Merlin jumped and the leader slapped her rear and the man who had himself in her mouth pulled out as did the leader and she fell into the covers as the three men spoke quietly.

She saw one of the men pass a vile of oil to the leader and Merlin's eyes widened, realising what they were going to do to her. She tried to move but the pain from her lower body was too much.

The three men made their way back to the bed and Merlin whimpered as she was lifted up onto her knees and one of the bandits laid himself down onto the bed and Merlin was thrown onto him, her breasts touching the man's chest which he must of liked a lot as he felt the man's cock twitch.

He moved her around until she was on his cock and pushed her down and she bit her lip in pain, not wanting to scream out again in case she was slapped for doing so. The man gripped her hips and pulled her up and down on her length before gripping her breasts and using them to drag her down until she was bent over and the leader knelled down behind her and gently began massaging her rear.

The third bandit gripped her face and stuffed his cock in her mouth, whilst a finger entered her anus and she screamed around the penis in her mouth which got her a slap on her face and arse cheek whilst someone pinched her side and it was then that she realised that the other two bandits had entered the room, both naked.

It wasn't long until the leader entered her behind and more blood poured down her legs, going over the dried blood from before. The man below her continued to push her down with one of his hands on her hip and one on her breasts and the other bandit thrust his shaft in and out of her mouth, making her gag several times. The two men who didn't have their parts inside of her, were touching themselves, beating themselves off to the performance in front of them.

It was long until all the men finished, their juices squirting into her body in three different areas and she sobbed knowing what consequences could come from their actions.

The men swapped places, the leader now in her mouth whilst one moved to her vagina and the other to her ass while the two other men continued what they were going above her.

* * *

The following day the bandits were on their way in a carriage that they had stolen and Merlin was sat in the back, rope wrapped around her now clothed body. The previous night she had been taken, over and over again until all the man were so tired they passed out and Merlin had cried herself asleep only to wake up, dressed and tied up in the back of a moving carriage.

She continued to cry, last night was horrific, the only thing that was keeping her alive was the thought of Arthur, oh she missed him so much and she missed Camelot so much as well...her life had gone so downhill these last three years.

"What is it?" one of the men whispered.

"Knights of Camelot." the leader hissed back and Merlin felt hope flutter through her body, if the knights found them, they would kill or arrest the bandits and take them back to Camelot and take her back to Camelot to safe house her. Her eyes flashed gold in an attempt to open the back doors of the carriage.

The three man who sat around her noticed this and one of them grabbed her and slapped her across the face and the other men joined in hurting her until she wasn't able to use her magic, although she didn't care...she was going home.


	3. Back in Camelot

**Title: **The Years Have Not Been So Kind

**Author: **RomaMarufixx

**Rating: **T

**Pairing: **Fem!Merlin/Arthur

**Summary:** Arthur had always been curious about his manservant, even more so when he realises that he is in fact a woman, a woman who would do anything for him, even risking her own life, but one day he has to send her away to protect her but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. What will happen when Merlin is brought back to Camelot years later, a shell of the woman she was before. Fem!Merlin, Arthur/Fem!Merlin, Non-Con, Canon AU.

**Word count: **2,132

**Disclaimer: **Merlin belongs to the BBC.

**Warnings: **Mentions of Rape/Non-Con

* * *

Sounds of metal clashing hit Merlin's barely conscious ears. She slowly moved her body into a sitting position and looked around the back of the carriage to see that she was alone. They must have beaten her until she blacked out and then joined the others in attacking the knights of Camelot, Merlin just hoped that the knights of Camelot would come out on top.

The back doors of the carriage opened and let a bright light shine through the darkness, Merlin had to raise an arm to shield her eyes from the light and when she pulled it away she saw two knights of Camelot crawling inside of the carriage. One was a very large man, with very muscular arms that were visible as he wore no sleeves. The other man was much slimmer and smaller, but still taller than herself and had mousy curly hair which hit his shoulders, she recognised this man as one of King Uther's knights...Sir Leon. She hadn't spoken to him much before and she doubted that he would remember her, especially since everyone had thought she was a man and now it was very obvious that she was a woman.

"Are you okay?" Sir Leon asked and Merlin just looked at him, she tried to speak but her jaw ached and it pained her to speak or to even try to. "My name is Sir Leon, and this is Sir Percival." he pointed to the muscular knight behind him. "We are knights of Camelot, and we are going to take you with us, you will be safe there." Merlin nodded and Sir Percival walked around Sir Leon and picked her up in his strong arms, she wrapped her own around his neck, afraid she would fall off of him.

He carried her out of the carriage and she looked around at the scenery. They were in the middle of a forest, which forest she was unsure. There were bodies laying on the forest floors, all of them she knew as the bandits who had kidnapped her and raped her, although there were only a couple of bodies on the floor, the other three, including the leader were tired up to one horse.

She closed her eyes and pushed her face into Percival's neck as the memories of last night came back to her. Percival's grip tighten on her for a minute before he had to let her go and help her get onto the horse, which she could only presume was his own horse, as all the other men were on theirs, apart from Leon, who was just about to mount his horse.

"It's okay, we're all here to protect you, I will be walking beside you." Percival reassured her and she nodded. Percival slapped the horse on the side and he began a steady gallop, walking in the same direction that the carriage had been going in before, although this time she wasn't afraid, she was surrounded by knights and she was going to go home, and she was going to see Arthur.

* * *

She kept drifting in and out of consciousness on her way to Camelot, the wounds taking a toll on her body. She knew her wounds were quite serious and that she may have some internal bleeding, having worked alongside Gaius for a while, but she didn't want to bring it up in front of the knights, she could hardly speak anyway. They knew she was in pain, but she knew they weren't very far from Camelot, she had taken this route when she first came to Camelot, many years ago, she just had to hang on for a short while.

* * *

Merlin was woken up by Percival, having not even remembered she'd passed out, she looked around to see very similar surroundings although she had not actually seen it in over three years. Percival lifted her up from her horse and carried her in his arms up the steps and into the castle, one of the last things she saw before she past out again was the red of Camelot's flag handing on one of the walls of the castle.

* * *

"Sire!" Percival voice broke out as he entered the throne room with the other knights, including Sir Leon. Arthur was talking to his uncle when they had burst into the room, and from the second he laid eyes on the figure in Percival's arms, but couldn't put his on who she was until the knights walked closer and he got a better look. It took his seconds to recognise his old manservant, who he actually knew was a woman. Maybe this was why no one else in the court or the knights didn't recognise who this was.

Percival placed her on the floor and Arthur knelt down beside her, brushing some dirty black hair out of her face.

"What happened to her?" he said, lowly.

"She was kidnapped by bandits." Sir Leon answered. "She has been beaten and there are signs were she has struggled and has been...violated." Leon continued, his voice growing quiet. Arthur's anger bubbled inside of him and he saw red.

"Were are those who did this to her?" he said, trying to keep his voice level.

"We killed two but there were five overall, the other three are outside, we await your orders for what to do for them but sire..."

"What?"

"We only found her because of signs, and a trail..."

"Signs and trails of what?"

"Magic, sire, we believe she is a sorceress." Arthur knew she was a sorceress, but if the rest of the court knew that, they'd want him to kill her and he couldn't do that. But the way things were looking, there would be no denying that she was a sorceress but he would not hurt her, especially not after what she had been through.

"Is there any chance you could have been mistaken?"

"No sire." Leon swallowed. "We all saw it, I'm sorry sire."

"Arthur, despite what this woman has been through, she is still a witch, she should be put to death, it would also put her out of her misery." Agravaine tried to reason, but Arthur didn't listen.

"The bandits are to be sent to the dungeons, _now, _and will be executed tomorrow for kidnapping, rape and attempted murder." the knights nodded and left the room, only Sir Leon and Sir Percival remained in the room. "Leon, Percival, fetch Gaius, tell him he is needed in the throne room." the two knights nodded and left the room to get the physician.

"Sire I must insist we strike the witch down now, her death would be painless and we will not be threatened."

"She's not bad, Agravaine I'm not going to kill her." everyone was shocked that the King would not kill the witch, including Gwen, Gwaine and Elyan.

"But Sire-"

"Milord." Gwen interrupted stepping forward. "The girl has been through a lot, witch or not we should help her and then let her go."

"And then let her go back to where she came, she is no threat to Camelot." Sir Gwaine continued and Agravaine glared at the both of them before looking back at his king.

"They're right, she is no threat, we will treat her and house her until she is better, only then will I decide what to do with her, but the one thing I know is that I am not going to kill her."

"Sire if you don't mind me asking, you seem very attached to this young woman, yet you've never met her before, why are you acting this way."

"I'm sorry uncle I can not tell you." Arthur stated simply and Agravaine went to question him further but was interrupted by Leon and Percival returning to the throne room with Gaius close behind. They walked over to were Arthur was with Merlin and moved out of the way so Gaius could examine her.

By the way Gaius looked at the woman, Arthur could tell that he recognised her as well, and maybe knew that Merlin was a girl all along.

"Bring her to my chambers, sire, there is not much I can do here when she is lying on the floor." Arthur nodded and carefully picked Merlin up, walking out of the throne room and to the physicians chambers, leaving his uncle, knights and court behind.

The walk to Gaius' chambers was taken in silence and when they arrived they went straight to business, Arthur placed her gently down onto the patients bed and await Gaius to do something, he was currently looking around his room for medicines and potions. Once he had found what he was looking for he walked over to Merlin and placed the back of his hand on her forehead, testing her temperature.

"Her temperature is slightly higher than normal, sire, could you get a damp cloth to try and to bring down her tempertaure?"

"Of course." the King said and walked over to where Gaius kept the cloths and dipped one in a bucket of cool water, draining it of some of his moisture before walking back over to the bed and placing it on her forehead.

"Gaius, do you recognise this woman?" The King asked, wanting to know whether or not Gaius knew Merlin was a woman like he did.

"I do."

"So you know-"

"I've known ever since she first arrived in Camelot that Merlin was a woman, and I know that you knew about her as well." Arthur nodded.

"I do know, but no one else did, she never corrected them when they called her, 'him' or referred to her as 'he'."

"A man can get further in the world than a woman." Gaius said, scanning Merlin's visible skin, looking at her wounds. "Sire, I am going to have to ask you to leave the room, I will have to look at Merlin's full body, to see how badly the wounds are, are due to what happen to her I will have to look at other areas which I don't think Merlin will be happy with you seeing her more private areas." Arthur blushed.

"Of course, I will come back to check on how things are going in a few hours, I have to go back to my court."

"What will you tell them?" Gaius asked.

"About what? Merlin?" Gaius nodded. "I guess I will have to, although there will be questions of whether I am going to kill her or not..."

"Because she has magic?" Gaius questioned and Arthur nodded.

"Yes, they will think I am showing favouritism."

"Maybe it is time for a change in Camelot." Gaius said and Arthur sighed.

"I don't know...all the years my father spent trying to get rid of magic, and now I change it all because of one person? I don't think Camelot would agree with my decision."

"You never know until you try, sire." Gaius reasoned. "But it is not up to me to decide, but you will have to send Merlin away again, just like your father did years ago." Arthur stood for a while thinking before leaving the room and returning to his council.

* * *

"Arthur!" Agravaine said as he saw Arthur enter into the throne room. "How is the girl?"

"Gaius is treating her as we speak, I am to return in a few hours to see her condition, but, uncle, there is something I wish to share with you and the rest of the court."

"Of course Sire." his uncle replied and Arthur nodded before walking to where his throne is, and facing his people.

"The woman that was brought forward, was indeed a witch, but I have no intentions of killing her, because she is a friend, a friend which I have not seen in many years since my father sent her away for being a sorceress." the court was shocked but remained quiet as they listened to their king.

"Her name is Merlin, and I know a lot of you knew her actually as a him, because she never corrected you when you did so, but Merlin is actually a girl, which myself and Gaius knew." he paused before speaking again.

"I intend to keep her here until she is fully healed, that may take months, but I do not mind nor care. If you have any problems about this, you are to speak to me about it, no one else and if I hear people are taking about my decisions, not to my face, then there will be consequences." the court members muttered their understandings and Arthur left the room and headed back to his chambers, to think over the day's events before seeing Merlin again in a few hours.


	4. Merlin and Arthur

**Title: **The Years Have Not Been So Kind

**Author: **RomaMarufixx

**Rating: **T

**Pairing: **Fem!Merlin/Arthur

**Summary:** Arthur had always been curious about his manservant, even more so when he realises that he is in fact a woman, a woman who would do anything for him, even risking her own life, but one day he has to send her away to protect her but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. What will happen when Merlin is brought back to Camelot years later, a shell of the woman she was before. Fem!Merlin, Arthur/Fem!Merlin, Non-Con, Canon AU.

**Word count: **1,905

**Disclaimer: **Merlin belongs to the BBC.

**Warnings: **Mentions of Rape/Non-Con

* * *

When Merlin woke she was looking up at a familiar ceiling, a ceiling which she had not seen in years. She raised herself up into a sitting position, and suddenly got a head rush, her hands coming up to hold her head.

"Merlin, how are you feeling?" she jumped at the fact someone in Camelot had called her by her name even though she looked like an actual girl now, but when she opened her eyes she realised it was Gaius and she smiled weakly.

"Gaius, hi, I feel...well..." She didn't know how to finish the sentence, she was feeling a lot of different emotions and pain, and wasn't sure of which Gaius was referring to, the rape and the beatings, the fainting, her headache or being back in a place where she should be put to death or anything else that had happened to her in the past three years.

Gaius placed a cup of water by the beside table along with some medicine to ease pain.

"I've checked over your body, all of your wounds are healing including the more...intimate ones." he said and Merlin blushed in embarrassment. "The only problem know is pregnancy." Merlin's eyes flew open and an open palm was pressed to her flat stomach.

"Am I?" she asked nervously.

"I can't tell yet, it is too soon, but I will do a daily check up on your wounds to see how they are healing and too make sure nothing else is happening or you have any internal bruising, bleeding or other problems and then once a week I will try and see whether or not you are pregnant although I do hope you are not and I think you do to." Merlin nodded picking up the medicine bottle and swallowing a small amount before washing it down with some fresh water.

"If I am pregnant would there be anyway of getting rid of it?" Merlin asked, hoping for a way out of a pregnancy if it occurred.

"There are some ways I have read in books, but all require magic, the ones that do not have mainly negative effects on the woman, either killing her in the process or making her unable to have children for the rest of her life."

"Well let's hope that I am not pregnant, the chances are 50/50 but all I can do is hope." Merlin's voice broke as she swung her legs off of the end of the bed and stood up, for the first time noticing that Gaius had changed her out of a dress into a more comfortable loose brown breeches and a loose but not too loose so it revealed anything, blue tunic. It was a lot like her old clothes only she was wearing any shoes and didn't have her neckerchief on.

"You wouldn't know who the father could be, could you?" Gaius asker her.

"It could be five men, although two of those are dead." Gaius nodding, not knowing what else to say. Luckily he was saved from conversation when the King stepped through the door of the physicians chambers. Merlin froze up from where she standing and looked at Gaius, to avoid seeing Arthur.

"Hello Merlin." he said and she turned back to him and smiled stiffly.

"Hello Arthur." he walked into the centre of the room, only a few feet away from Merlin and Gaius.

"How are you feeling?" he asked and she could see worry and fear in his eyes.

"Um, I'm okay at the moment but overall I'm not too good." she said looking down and away from Arthur in shame.

"She has many injuries, inside and out." he said and Gaius nodded understanding what he meant by the second part. "But she is healing well."

"That's good, Gaius would it be okay if I spoke to Merlin alone for a while?" he asked and Gaius nodded.

"I have a few things to collect and deliver, I will be gone for a few hours." Gaius said picking a few things up and placing them in his satchel before leaving the King and his former manservant alone.

Merlin sat down on the bed which she had only just stood up on and Arthur sat down next to her.

"I'm so, so sorry Merlin." he said and Merlin looked into his eyes which had deepened with worry and fear but now also had guilt swimming in them.

"Arthur it's not your fault, it's no one but those bastards." she spat and she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and she titled her head onto Arthur's shoulder and cried into it for a good half an hour before she was able to speak.

"I don't remember anything since I past out in the courtyard...care to fill me in?" she sniffled.

"You were brought forward to me and the court...no one recognised you but myself and Gaius when he turned up. After they told me what happened to you I had them take the surviving three men to the dungeons and get Gaius. After you were in Gaius' care I told the court who you were and despite what my uncle Agravaine said, I will not put you to death...I can't." Merlin rubbed her shoulder on Arthur's shoulder.

"Thank you." she mumbled and they remained like that for a long time until Arthur spoke.

"I missed you." he sighed out. "It was very weird adjusting to life without you once you had gone, I did hope you came back and when I became King all I wanted to do was go and find you but my Uncle would voice his disagreement to the whole court."

"I missed you too, didn't realise how much until now." she admitted, being this close to Arthur made her heart flutter and the fact that he was now King made her very happy, now she would be able to stay in Camelot. "When did Uther pass?" she asked.

"Not long ago, I'm very newly king, a lot happened, I guess I will have to fill you in." he said and the rest of the time spent together they talked about what had happened in the three years that Merlin had not been in Camelot, and it was was a lot. Arthur had left half an hour after he had finished telling Merlin what had happened when she was gone and she had laid down in the bed and decided to rest since she didn't have much else to do.

* * *

When Arthur returned to his chambers his uncle was waiting for him. Arthur groaned inwardly, knowing this would be something to with Merlin and her magic.

"Uncle, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, Arthur, hello, do you mind me asking where you have been?" Agravaine said, ignoring what Arthur had previously said, which did annoy him but he answered his Uncle's question so that he would leave him along quicker.

"I've been to Gaius' chambers to see how Merlin is doing."

"And how is she?"

"She is both good and bad, her injuries are healing though, it's the emotional scarring that will be left behind which I worry about."

"Hm, I could understand that." Agravaine nodded. "Arthur, I know this girl was your friend, and was your...manservant."

"She still is my friend." he corrected his uncle.

"Of course, sorry, but the point is still there Arthur, she had magic and the laws of the land say that she should be put to death."

"She is my friend, Uncle."

"Friend of not, the matter still stands, and you can not show favouritism, it is the sign of a weak king, your father knew that."

"I am not my father." Arthur said bluntly.

"Your father was a great king."

"He was a king, not great, he killed innocent people, I didn't realise how wrong he was about things until a short while back, and now that I am king it is time for a new Camelot."

"Arthur..."

"A Camelot that allows those with magic." He said and Agravaine's expression dropped and Arthur grinned. "Now, uncle if you would leave, I have had a very long day and wish to rest."

"Of...of course, sire, good night." Agravaine nodded at his nephew before leaving the room and allowing Arthur to sleep.

* * *

Merlin woke at some time during the night, unable to sleep for any longer. She raised herself up from the bed as quietly as she could since Gaius was sleeping on the other side of the room. As silent as possible she walked across the room and out of the door before walking down the spiral marble staircase that would take her down to the corridor below the physician's chambers, but when she reached the bottom of the staircase she ran straight into someone and froze up before seeing who she had run into.

"Arthur?" she whispered, as it was the middle of the night.

"Merlin?" he whispered back.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" she asked.

"I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk, you?" he asked back.

"Same."

"I'd ask why you couldn't sleep, but that would make me very stupid." he said and she chuckled.

"Yes, it would indeed." she said. "But, why couldn't you sleep?"

"I have a lot on my mind." he said.

"Such us?"

"Magic." the topic irked her.

"Why Magic?" she stuttered nervously.

"My uncle won't drop the topic of putting you to death because you are a sorceress and I told my uncle that maybe it is time for magic to be accepted into Camelot."

"And what did he say to that?" she asked nervously.

"He said nothing, because that was just before I was going to sleep, but I guarantee he will have 'words' with me about it later on in the day." she nodded and Arthur noticed the slight shake that racked through her body and the nervous expression on her face. "Merlin, you don't have to worry, I won't let any harm come to you."

"Thank you Arthur." she said before moving slightly closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her far too slim waist. As she pulled away she rested her hands on his chest, but his hands remained around her waist.

"I am really grateful for all that you have done Arthur." she said. "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me Merlin." he said and almost stopped breathing when Merlin kissed him, it was brief but he didn't expect it and it made him blush like a maiden.

"Merlin, what?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I'm, Er..." she rambled on and Arthur pulled her back from where she had tried to get away.

"It should have been me to have made the first move." he said and she lightened up, falling back into his embrace. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked, his confidence falling.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked and Arthur was unsure of what to say next. "I don't know how far I can go or how easy this we be but I want it, I want you."

"Good." he replied, kissing her passionately although not enough to scare her away. "Now, you should rest." she nodded before kissing his cheek and letting him lead her back up the stairs to the physicians chambers.


End file.
